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74 CLASSIFIED & CONTRACTORS AUG / SEP 2020 • farmers-mart . co . uk
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‘
HEREFORDS IN THE PICTURESQUE
CALDER VALLEY
The Calder Valley in West Yorkshire has not only a rich engineering heritage but is also home to many farms , smallholdings , striking Yorkshire stone houses and mansions .
I recently visited Coley Walks Farm in Norwood Green , not only is it home to the multi award-winning Coley Herefords , but also the stunning Grade II * listed Coley Hall . The Farm and Hall are owned by Heather Whittaker and her husband , Jeff Price .
Although Heather has always wanted to be a farmer , which stemmed primarily from the time she spent on a
dairy farm as a child , back in the 60 ’ s
and 70 ’ s unless you were from a
farming family it was very difficult for girls to
get into farming . Her early career was as
a research scientist , she graduated
from Birmingham University in
geography and worked at the Institute of
Terrestrial Ecology , now part of Natural England
, where she studied amongst other
things the effect of Chernobyl on soil and vegetation
. Jeff and Heather moved to
Halifax over forty years ago following Jeff ’ s career as a consultant surgeon
I wanted to
work with a British native breed . I chose the Hereford because of its good temperament , easy calving and quality of beef ’ specialising in breast cancer . He originally bought Coley Hall which would historically have had around twelve farms attached to it . Heather kept horses and was keen to buy a field from the neighbouring farmer for them . After about ten years of pestering , the farmer finally said that she had to buy the whole farm or nothing
! As Jeff was nearing retirement and realising that after such a busy career as a surgeon , he would need some- thing to do and with Heather having always wanted to be a farmer , it was a no-brainer the farm was rented out for grazing , but after a year the farmer who was renting it decided to retire . So , in 2003 , Heather
, so to speak . At the time
became a farmer ! As she had always done Jeff ’ s accounts the business side came naturally . As for the farming side ?
Read on .
Nowadays they have 70 acres which they own , together with another 35 acres rented
, all under grass . I asked Heather “ Why Herefords ?”
“ Very simply
, I wanted to work with a British native breed . I chose the Hereford because of its good temperament
, easy calving and quality of beef . The start of the Coley Herefords was with the help of a well renowned local
BREED CONSERVATION
WITH A PERSONAL TOUCH
2 HIGH HURST FARM A farmers-mart . co . uk
Robin Mackay - one lady ’ s remarkable journey
LAKE District Farmers ( LDF ) work with more than fifty Cumbrian farmers in producing some of the finest , tastiest meat money can buy . High Hurst Farm , probably the smallest farm they work with , has an inspiring story behind it .
Robin and Andrew Mackay run High Hurst Farm , a self-sustaining smallholding in the picturesque Duddon Valley , one of the hidden gems of the Lake District . High Hurst Farm being under 50 acres is classed as a smallholding but is much more .
Andrew and Robin were totally new to farming when they returned to their native Cumbria back in 2013 . It was something they had always planned to do , both having a love of animals , particularly Robin .
In 2013 Andrew was approaching retirement after 33 years in the RAF . Robin , having followed Andrew to his various postings , has been amongst other things a ballet dancer , trained as a chef ( so she knows good meat when she sees and tastes it ) and her final position was PA to an eminent professor at the University of Oxford .
The move back to Cumbria was finally somewhere they chose rather than being sent . As Andrew ’ s retirement date was 2019 , the plan was to acquire a smallholding and make it self-sustaining by the time he retired , or should I say Robin was to make it self sustaining !
No small task , starting right from scratch . Robin epitomises many successful women farmers I have met . “ You just have to keep going and stay focussed .” The job Robin has done is nothing short of amazing .
To start with High Hurst Farm was at a price that Robin and Andrew could afford , however that affordable price was for a reason . The whole property and outbuildings were run down , close on dilapidated and the land was in an equally poor state , walls , fences , soil all in a poor state . So , there was an inordinate amount of work to be done just to get to back to square one . Although Andrew was still in the service , he was home at the weekends to help out and see the progress .
Once the farmhouse and the main buildings were restored , Robin was able to work on the land . During the initial restoration Robin was also preparing for the farm for animals . She did a huge amount of research , her time at Oxford being not to dissimilar and her time as a chef meant she knew where she wanted to go in producing good meat . As well as her research , she had a huge amount of help and advice from many mentors . Two of the most notable were Phil Dawson , who is a local smallholder specialising in pigs - his grandfather and father before him also rearing pigs so a wealth of knowledge has been passed down ; the second key mentor was Anthony
Hartley , who again is a local farmer with 2500 Herdwicks and is very involved with the Herdwick Society . He taught Robin an awful lot and despite the size of his flock , was happy to drop everything to help Robin with one sheep . Indeed , their oldest sheep nearly perished during the birth of her first ever lamb . However , thanks to Anthony ’ s intervention she survived , and her lamb has grown into one of Robin ’ s strongest ewes and had a good number of her own lambs .
The farm started in a very small way with just six hens , then four sheep . One of the funny things that Robin remembers from the early stages is that she often went to farms looking for one breed / type of animal and invariably came back with another . One of Andrew ’ s weekly rituals on returning home at weekends was to inquire “ What have you bought now ?”
So , after the hens and sheep were established , their first foray into the world of pigs started with the purchase of two Gloucestershire Old Spot sows - Thelma and Louise . It was in the early stages of building up the animal stock that they soon realised via Robin ’ s
HAPPY HEALTHY PIGS SEE MEAT SALES SOAR breeder , Jack Henry . By chance , Jeff had happened to see Jack ’ s Herefords , liked them , so Jeff and Heather went to see him . In order to get some farming experience and pave the way for her to have her own herd , she helped Jack out by preparing his show cattle , both on the farm and at shows . As Heather is quite a shy person , getting in the show ring was quite a daunting thing . She is very used to it now and recognises what a great way it is for farmers to advertise the animals they produce .
In 2004 , Heather and Jeff bought twenty Herefords from a variety of high
AUG / SEP 2020 • • AUG / SEP 2020
research and talking to people that there was a real plight around certain old-fashioned heritage breeds and indeed numbers were so low that some of our native heritage breeds could well disappear . The decision was therefore made to focus on rare breeds and to try to help raise their numbers and re-establish them .
Clearly for this to happen great care in breeding was going to be the order of the day , correct environment , peak health , and high-quality feed . The farm was already well placed for this as Robin had set the whole farm up to allow the animals to exist in a happy , carefree , natural outdoors environment , where they are also free to express their natural behaviours , but with adequate shelter when the heavy Cumbrian weather is present - which is often . Indeed , when I was there it was a very typical misty , driven rainy day .
Pigs , more so than many , are very susceptible to disease transmitted from humans , so to that end right from the start Robin has had a strict hygiene
Continued on page ...
CONTINUED ON PAGE ...
2 ANNA ’ S HAPPY TROTTERS farmers-mart . co . uk
Chris Berry talks with Anna Longthorp of Anna ’ s Happy Trotters .
PORK has arguably the most distinctive taste and for many the best of all meats from the four main sectors of beef , pork , lamb and poultry . It is also definitely the most versatile with its long-established tradition of pigs being consumable from the cheek to the tail .
Anna Longthorp and her brother Jon have grown up knowing this and are now fourth generation farmers following on from their parents Richard and Diana who have farmed the 1800-acre arable and pig farm at Burland just out of Howden for many years .
Today it is Jon who has responsibility for the arable acreage and the pig breeding units at home and further afield while Anna has developed her own pig farming and pigmeat selling enterprise based around free range pigs under the moniker Anna ’ s Happy Trotters . She opened her own café / restaurant Anna ’ s Happy Kitchen two years again in Howden , at what was the popular Coastways Café .
Anna realised very quickly , on making the leap into farming , that her love of pigs was all very well but to make a strong business model she needed to ditch the wellies and get out of the muddy fields ; and instead get out on to the road , phone , email , website and social media in order for her enterprise to make the right headway .
‘ There ’ s nothing I love more than being with my pigs ,’ says Anna . ‘ And in the early days of Anna ’ s Happy Trotters I loved attending farmers markets and food festivals to build the brand but I also realised I could end up being a busy fool . When you ’ re aiming to expand a business you need to look at where your energies are best employed and you don ’ t expand , the way I wanted to , by simply being around your livestock or setting up tradestands at 5 in a morning .’
‘ Looking after your customers , understanding their needs and supplying what they want is number one , two and three , and without that you might as well stay at home , sit on your hands and smile longingly at your pigs . I ’ m out on the road most days talking with my customers including everyone from the Yorkshire Agricultural Society ’ s brilliant farm shop Fodder in Harrogate to more locally Bert ’ s Barrow in Hillam and Monk Fryston .’
‘ You build relationships on the back of firstly having a great product , then being able to offer continuity of supply and quality . By talking with customers you find out what it is that customers are concerned about and animal welfare is right up there . Consumers of any meat are more concerned than ever about where their food is coming from and have the animals been looked after correctly . They want to know that what their eating meets all ethical standards , as well as tasting excellent .’
‘ That ’ s where our Red Tractor Assured and Freedom Foods accreditations really help and we have also won a Good Pig Award from Compassion in World Farming .’
High health status is Anna ’ s main concern for her pigs that she began twelve years ago and sees her with three separate locations where contract farmers now rear them . Anna visits them all each week .
‘ In the interests of pig health , security and for the overall business it is better not to have all of your pigs in one place . I still help with vaccinations when they arrive from Jon ’ s breeding units at four weeks old . The contract farmers do a great job , which allows me to concentrate my efforts elsewhere .’
Continued on page XX
Abattoir & Meat Wholesalers
We supply high quality beef , pork and lamb through an efficient distribution service where standards are second to none .
Selling a range of fresh meats prepared in modern hygienic premises to customer requirements .
Best Wishes to Anna Longthorp and all at Anna ’ s Happy Trotters .
Call us on 01904 728 246 www . atravesandson . co . uk
Abattoir & Meat Wholesalers , 95 Main Street , Escrick ,
JUN / JUL 2020 • • JUN / JUL 2020
Award-winning Yorkshire law firm , specialising in Medical Negligence , Personal Injury , Industrial Disease , Conveyancing , Wills , Probate and Deputyships .
Heptonstalls is proud to be associated with Anna and the L family and wishes all the best to the
Agricultural Tax Specialists Most of our new clients are referred to us by our existing clients .
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HIGH HURST FARM 3
Help Ensure the Survival of our Native Pig Breeds
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Proud to be associated with Heather Whittaker and family of Coley Walks Farm , wishing them continued succe
THE British Pig Association is the breed
Looking after your interests , looking after you . society for the Berkshire and Gloucestershire Old Spots as well as eight other native pig breeds . All these breeds are listed by Defra as at risk of extinction . Established in 1884 the BPA works with Government and other organisations such as the Rare Breeds Survival Trust and Breeders Clubs to ensure the survival of our native pig breeds .
The challenge we face is to build a future where our wonderful breeds have a real place in the rural economy and are not just dependant on charity and goodwill .
At the heart of our conservation plan is the message that we have to Eat them to Save them .
Conservation through Consumption can be a difficult concept to explain but the last breed to be lost was the Lincolnshire Curly Coat and there are no Lincolnshire Curly Coats in Lincoln Zoo . Farmers will only keep the pigs if people will buy the pork .
Helping to create sustainable rural businesses supplying niche markets is what our Pedigree Pork scheme is all about . Andrew and Robin Mackay are members of this scheme and their business typifies the model that is needed for our pigs to survive .
The BPA together with the RBST is building genebank as part of our conservation programme but on farm conservation relies on farmers keeping pigs as part of small diverse rural businesses .
There are more than 500 Siberian tigers but the latest survey for the Middle White pig reveals a population of less than 400 sows and boars
Everyone can help in different ways . Become a pedigree breeder like the Mackay ’ s or just buy pedigree weaner to fatten , join our Conservation Club a support our work or just take that littl bit of time to visit a farm shop or butc and buy locally produced pedigree pork . Even if you just buy some pork chops from one of native breeds like the Berkshire you will be helping to s the breed and on top of that they tas fantastic !
Details of our conservation programm the Pedigree Pork scheme can be foun our website www . britishpigs . org and www . pedigreepork . org
Eat Them to Save Them
Native Pig Breeds like the Berkshire and the Gloucestershire Old Spots are at risk of extin The only way to save them is to eat them
Look for the Pedigree Pork logo or visit �����������������������������������
www . pedigreepork . org | www . britishpigs .
Bishopton Veterinary Group are de
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